Today with the Boston Celtics Kelvin Upshaw was born in 1963 in Chicago, Illinois. Upshaw attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M University and the University of Utah, but he went undrafted in the 1986 NBA draft. In the 1988-89 season, he entered the NBA from the Continental Basketball Association (CBA – equivalent to the Development League at the time), played for the Miami Heat, played 9 games, and then returned to the CBA. Upshaw managed to work his way onto the Celtics roster on the strength of two ten-day contracts, only to find himself waived when the summer arrived.
However, he found himself back in green in the fall and signed as a free agent in late November 1989. The stay was short-lived, however, as he was axed a month later, the day after Christmas. Kelvin was the epitome of a journeyman with a long career as both a player and a coach, having played for multiple NBA teams and many other minor league teams. Upshaw was the backup defender behind Dennis Johnson and Brian Shaw in his first season with the club, and behind Reggie Lewis in his second season.
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He played in just 37 games for Boston over two seasons (1988-89 and 1989-90), averaging 5.2 points and 3.4 assists in both seasons.
Boston Celtics’ Kelvin Upshaw moves the ball during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
historical milestones
It was also the date the Celtics tied their opponents for their third-lowest points total in the shot clock era. The game was a 2003 home game at the (then) Fleet Center (now TD Garden), where Boston defeated the Denver Nuggets 77-58.
Rodney White, who came off the bench, scored a team-high 11 points, while Paul Pierce scored 45 points, almost tied with the Denver Nuggets.
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Celtics History: Upshaw Born; Boston beats Denver with 58 points, Pierce leads with 45